Komatsu Australia HR up to 40% more efficient with SAP SuccessFactors

Construction and mining equipment manufacturer Komatsu Australia has reported a 25 to 40 percent efficiency bump in its human resource (HR) management and a two percent increase in overall workforce productivity after implementing SAP SuccessFactors.

Komatsu implemented SAP SuccessFactors’ entire suite after it was adopted by the company’s other regions, with the aim to boost the efficiency of its hiring process, onboarding and HR functions and improve the employee experience.

“We didn’t just introduce a few modules and call it a day. We went for a comprehensive overhaul, changing our business processes to align with the best practices enabled by SAP SuccessFactors solutions. It was about transforming the entire people experience, enabled by technology,” Komatsu Australia General Manager of Human Resources Melissa Morrison said.

Komatsu’s previous onboarding process that had large amounts of paperwork and repetitive manual tasks, meaning HR processes were moving slowly. The company also wanted to mitigate the effects of staff transience and turnover by working on attracting and retaining talent, as well as leverage new technology like artificial intelligence to remain competitive

Additionally, the company committed to putting employee experience at the heart of its HR strategy, while also elevating HR’s impact and move away from being administrative focused.

SAP SuccessFactors was chosen also for its integration with Komatsu’s existing SAP solutions.

“Partnering with SAP opened a wealth of opportunities. It wasn’t about moving to the cloud for the sake of it, it was choosing a platform that promised continuous innovation and smooth integration with our existing systems,” Morrison said.

Morrison called Komatsu’s approach with SAP SuccessFactors as “ripping the Band-Aid off by adopting the full suite, including Employee Central and other talent management solutions.”

Komatsu said the implementation followed a holistic approach, securing executive sponsorship by framing it as a business transformation project, while also resourcing it with a full-time senior project manager and a senior change manager.

“Before using SAP SuccessFactors, new hires faced a daunting amount of paperwork,” Morrison said. “With the new signature management tools withing the solution, we’ve streamlined the process, making it a positive first experience with Komatsu.”

SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding has made the process fully paperless, reducing manual admin work for new hires. For existing staff that have been promoted or transferred, SAP SuccessFactors also handles administration, notifications, and new salary package details.

Other improvements include employee training (via SAP SuccessFactors Learning), documentation and confidentiality management.

Looking ahead, Komatsu projects the SAP SuccessFactors implementation to achieve a full return on investment within four years.